GET OUT AND VOTE!!

Happy election day, make your voice official!

Pear-fect!

Another Camera phone quality pic although I finally made it to costco and got a new camera so better pics to come, I PROMISE. I hit up the farmers market again this week and got lots of goodies my favorite being pears! I got a big BROWN bag of them! Perfect! I already have eaten at least 3 thus far. Makes it feel like fall to me and I love this fall feeling (well you know that is in the 80's in CA this time of year) still can't wait to break out the boots. Next week to the farm for some pumpkins!!

Finally a Fall Morning

Today it actually felt like fall here in NorCal. It's Saturday so of course I hit up my regular farmers market. I forgot to stop at the ATM so I didn't have whole lot of cash . So i just picked up a couple fall goodies and I had to prove my tomatoes are still coming strong! I also had to take a pic of the cool pumpkins that were at the farmers market. Grrr I need a camera, the camera phone isn't cutting it.

it's been a while...

I know, I know I've been a slacker and I promise to get back to regular posting soon. Seasons are changing and I have so much to post I mean it s fall which means lots of eco friendly decorations to get, a trip to the local farm for some pumpkins is in my to do list. My favorite local farmers market is about to end for the season which means I have to head to other markets to get my local goodies. I still have tons of tomatoes and basil in my garden. I have been freezing (although my freezer is not as big as my friend Amanda's) lots of fresh and local veggies to make soups and other dishes all winter long.
Unfortunately I have no camera so I will end this post with an old pic and I will report back soon with some pictures =)
Hope you have been keeping it green, I have ;)

Me at the local farm pumpkin patch from years past:

Just for good Measure

and I have nothing else to post....I present my weekly haul.Organic baby spinach, romaine, cauliflower, celery, green pepper, garlic, onion, cantaloupe, grapes, cherry tomatoes and some blackberries and raspberries. My own garden is in full bloom as well. Love this time of year, almost time for root veggies!

Open Bar

As you know I disdain plastic and eliminate as much of it from my life as possible. But plastic is darn hard to get away from. My latest attempt to avoid plastic at all cost is my purchase of a shampoo bar. Similar to your regular soap bar but for my locks. I have yet to try this out, but it sure smells yummy! I have pretty easy hair to deal with, so we shall see how this pans out =)

Fruits of my Labor (day weekend??)

Alright actually not so much labor but after returning from my Labor Day in South lake Tahoe I was happy to come home to a nice bunch of tomatoes to freshly pick. Everyone should have a tomato plant, nothing tastes better then home grown tomatoes, and not to mention growing your own tomato plant is incredibly local and it always benefits our ecosystem to add to your garden =)

Do Something Green Today

My friend Lindsey informed me of a website http://www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org/ which allows you too sign up and stop the delivery of unsolicited telephone books. They will notify the publishers to stop sending books. Everyone please sign up to fulfill your green duty of the day! Phone books are completely unnecessary when google can give you any information you need. According to The Green Book phone books make up 10% of the waste in landfills, yikes! Thanks again Lindsey! Keep it Green!

Verde Vino

So red wine? White Wine? Oh I go green.....While at Trader Joes I picked up this "green" wine, Kunde. A chardonnay, natch, but caught my eye due to the (wasteful??) sign that informed me it was green. You know I had to pick it up, plus it was a local Sonoma winery. I will let you know my review when I uncork.

Mid-Week Hual

We went through the fruit fast this week so I made a midweek stop for some berries, grapes , romaine, a nectarine I ate before I got home and cherry tomatoes(I need to plant mine own next year!). I would have picked up even more but I forget to grab more cash. They had a stand with avocado and apple trees I was eying, I may have to go back next week!

Old Habits die Hard.

On my quest to green my life I have been trying to green my fashion, this has proven to be tough as I am quite the shopaholic. I first eliminated items made in China and in other sweat shop like conditions. Noticing where things are made has made feel me aware of what I am buying and if it is really necessary to have, which as a wanna be fashionista is a hard call to make. Especially when you really want that new cute plaid Joie shirt but gosh darn it's made in China, I digress.

Focusing my attention on items made in America or not in sweat shops has made shopping a challenge that I have come to enjoy. Knowing I am wearing clothes that are not only stylish but made by ethical companies makes wearing a simple American Apparel tee that much more appealing.

I am currently lusting over a pair of faux suede biodegradable, oh yes I said BIODEGRADABLE, slouchy boot from Stella McCartney. Hmmm maybe ethical eco friendly shopping isn't that crunchy after all....Shop green and keep it ethical!

Berry Delicious

Alrightly now that the Olympics are winding down I can get back to my blogging....
My haul for the week. I got some great deals, the 3 peppers for a dollar , the cherry tomatoes were 50 cents, 5o cent garlic, 40 cent cucumber, bag of organic baby spinach for $2 and of course my own home grown tomatoes =)
Unfortunately when I was unloading I dropped my Berries and they got a bit squashed. So I decided to make berry smoothie. Squashed berries, ice, a bit of almond milk half a cup of water and a half cup of spinach .

Mmm it made two glasses full and if I didn't tell you there was spinach in it you would be none the wiser. A great way to get some extra antioxidants and greens in your diet. This sure filled me up and made me feel great after drinking it. I have been doing a lot of reading about Raw diets, so I am trying to incorporate as much raw food as I can into my diet.
Anyone pick up anything good at their farmers markets this week?
Keep it local =)

A repsonse! Update Bossa nova gate! !

Looks like I wasn't the only customer complaining...
According to www.cleanari.org, Americans throw away 2.5 MILLION plastic bottles every hour, yuck. There are many different numbers out about the waste plastic bottles cause, all of them crazy numbers. I am still saddened by Bossa Nova's decision to turn to plastic.
Although I do not agree with their arguments of turning to plastic, it only reminds me that buying FRESH and LOCAL is key. I am eliminating as much un-local items as I can, my Bossa Nova elimination will be the next on my list ;) I still firmly believe that glass, as a completely renewable packing resource, is much better then plastic. I will still seek out companies to stick by this belief. I will always choose Local, then glass and only if I have to, plastic.....
For your pleasure, here is the letter I was sent:

"Hello Amber,

Thank you for writing with your concerns – we really want and encourage our customers opinions, suggestions and feedback.

Please know that our decision to switch from glass to PET plastic was not born of a cost savings potential. We are always looking for ways to reduce our environmental impact and we try and be conscious of not only what we put into our products but also consider where the various constituents come from, how they were attained and what it took energy-wise to get it to us.

Glass vs plastic. At first there wasn’t too much to think about, we have an extensive understanding of not only natural products but also a deep appreciation, meaning we walk the walk - and with that understanding was a knowledge that glass was better than plastic. And many of our customers thanked us for choosing glass packaging.

Then, in the latter part 2007, some of those calls and email started to change in opinion and appreciation of glass bottles. We started getting questioned as to why we were in glass bottles, if we are a company that cares about the environment - and being asked if we knew what the carbon impact was of the heavier, less recycled and more energy intensive glass bottles.

So we started looking into carbon impact, the sustainability of our glass supply, the manufacturing process, transportation drag and recyclabilty and found that a lot of this new information we were hearing was correct – now we had some serious consideration to give in our bottle choice.

It was a difficult decision. Do we stay in glass, a completely recyclable product but one that is not recycled as much (percentage-wise or life cycles), is heavier and therefore has more of a carbon-impact as far as transporting goes and also needs a lot more energy to produce. Or do we go with plastic which is is a petrol product but is lighter and actually uses less overall petrol when you weigh the considerably higher fuel needs of manufacturing and moving around heavier glass.

Our decision was, at least until there are better alternatives to current fuel options, that the best choice would be plastic (PET.)

I should also mention that we also took into consideration some people’s concern about the possibility of plastic leeching – especially when when plastic becomes heated. We decided that if we were not able to bottle our juice in a way that avoided it coming into contact with heated plastic, we would not have moved forward with the new process. Our product is kept cold from the point it goes in the bottle to when it hits your lips. We have chosen PET 1 as it is shown to be a stable plastic in regards to any potential of leaching when used appropriately.

I hope this helps explain our reasoning for the switch – and I hope that it meets your satisfaction.

Best,


Mike Steele"

Keep it glass

Back to Normal

After 2 weeks of missing my farmers market ( first to visit the San Francisco farmers market and then last week I was in Napa) I finally got back to my local one. This week I picked up a baguette, green peppers, cantaloupes, some rolls for the husband's sandwiches, grapes, red onion, nectarine (the other one gotten eaten on the drive home!) jalapeños, romaine, cilantro and some blackberries and raspberries.
Keep it Green!

My Edible Garden

Just some of my goodies, everyone should have a edible garden, it is SO rewarding! I love it.

My Lovely tomato's. Love them!Strawberries, these girls keep on coming!
Fresh basil, love having this on hand,
My Lemon and Lime trees.
No miracle grow needed!

Garden green!

All Fired up

Now I have posted my love for Bossa Nova before, I loved their Acai juice and how they saved a rain forest tree for every bottle you buy. Thanks to my friend Sayde I have learned, much to my disappointment, that Bossa Nova has switched their packing from glass to *gasp* PLASTIC. In my opionion this totally cancels out the fact they are saving rain forest trees. Uggh makes me so angry.

Anyways I have also previously posted my habit of emailing places when I feel strongly about something. Much to the urging of Sayde I set out to email to Bossa Nova expressing my disappointment in their descion to conver to plastic. I also let them know them know, as long as they use plastic they will no longer have me as a customer (voting with my dollar as I like to call it).

If anyone else feels passionate about this please contact Bossa Nova please email them at info@bossausa.com or you can send letters to
Bossa Nova Beverage Group
11965 Venice Blvd. Suite 307
Los Angeles, CA 90066

And if anyone has any other companies that you have noticed something that is ungreen or something they should change post. I a always happy to send letters, the bigger the voice the more likely hood for changes. Thanks again Sayde, even if it totally fired me up for a bit =P

Keep it glass!

Barrel O' Fun

I haven't posted much i have been busy celebrating my anniversary and watching the Olympics! Here are a few pictures from our Napa weekend. We started out at the Napa farmers market which was not as great as i was hoping I guess the last weekend in San Francisco really spoiled me. Anyways after the famers market we went to an edible garden at Copia. It was gorgeous and so cool. I got lots of great ideas, for my own garden.
How cool are these artichokes?
More local goodies, mmmmmm chardonnay
;)

And gorgeous Napa Valley.All in all a pretty green weekend considering Napa is about a half hour from us, so not much energy was wasted and we supported some local vineyards.
Relax green =)

08-08-08

Anyone else as excited about the Olympics as me? I have always loved the Olympics. I used to cry when it was over LOL! Four years seemed like forever when I was a kid. Anyways I am giddy and can't wait. My friend in who lives in Beijing told me things have been pretty crazy over there in preparation for the ceremony. They had been enforcing the alternate license plate number rule to cut the popultion right before the festivities. Hopefully China looks for more long term ways to cut pollution and hopefully the US looks to Beijing as a lesson learned of what could happen if change isn't made (I mean China has already gotten rid of plastic bags, what are we waiting for?) . Anyways on the festivities! I cannot wait, GO TEAM USA!

What would Jackie do?

I love my Jackie O style sunglasses, and I haste plastic but I don't think I'm quite there yet... Anyways if you haven't ever checked greenloop out yet, you definalty should. It's filled with tons of eco friendly brands to stock up on. Nice for me as, I'm banning products made in China, have you seen the pics of Beijing,? Can you blame me?
Shop Green!

Let's Do Lunch

Here is a pic of some of things I use to pack my lunch as well as the Husbands lunch. Most of the stuff is mine, the stainless steel carrier is great for leftover and salads, the ice box is CW's. The pretty sack is what I throw all my stuff in, I was told by someone I have a fancy lunch bag, LOL.
My Voss glass water bottle, so many times I have been asked if its vodka LOL! I also have some Pyrex containers I use for nuts, fruits and veggies or whatnot instead of plastic bags, I also have a container I use for CW's sandwiches or I use them for wraps, and pitas.
Oh of course my cloth napkins that I love, I keep lots of these near by. Some bamboo utensils, I keep those in my sack so I never have to use disposable ones when eating out, at bbq's and what not.
Eat green =)

Happy Birthday Erynn and Amanda!

Hope you girls have a great day =)

Purple Pepper Eater

So I tried out the purple pepper. I cut it up and found it to be lighter on the inside then I originally expected almost like an eggplant (I put some of the pieces on the side in the picture). I tasted a piece raw and decided it had to be cooked (although I am trying to eat more raw...more on that later). It was really bitter (also much like aneggplant) compared to green and red peppers. So I lightly cooked up the purple pepper with some garlic and the summer squash I had also picked up from the market. It was much better after being cooked, I then tossed it in a bit of teriyaki and put it in a a pita (another farmers market purchase) along with some hummus. There you go my purple pepper review, I do recommend you Keep it Green though, peppers and otherwise =P

Wanna Bet?

I bought some Lulu hair powder (if I only wash my hair every other day my shower time can be even quicker!) Anyways it got shipped to my Mom's. When I went to go pick it up I was telling my Mom and Sis how the Styrofoam was faux Styrofoam, did they believe me? No! So we had our own impromptu experiment, I put the thing in some water and ohhh it disintegrated. Real Styrofoam? Not going happen. Now the real scientific question is why can't all businesses use this stuff?
Keep it green!

The Haul

Heres a pic of my SF farmers market haul (as per Shana's request). I picked up some heirloom cherry tomatoes, romaine, some colorful bell pepper (green,purple, red and yellow), cantaloupe, grapes, whole wheat pitas, a baguette, corn and some pickles for the husband. We also got lunch at the market , the strawberry spritzer I previously posted and I picked up some summer squash (not pictured).
While we were there my Mom picked me up a little guide to eating local. It was filled with lists of all Local Bay Area farms, stores that carried those items and tips to eating local. I tried to convince my Mom to let me buy her a chicken (for the eggs) but she wasn't down LOL.I recreated the salad they were sampling at the Farmers market. I added some basil from my garden, and mixed with a bit of EVOO and a pinch of sea salt.
Since we had some people come over I decided to use the baguette I bought at the market and turn the salad into an appetizer. I sliced the baguette rubbed it with a garlic glove, grilled it up and topped with the heirloom tomato salad.

A San Francisco Treat!

Today my mom and I skipped out on our local Farmers Market and headed to the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmers Market (ohh don't worry we took BART so no gas was wasted). This farmers market is amazing, a definite must see if you are ever in town. The ferry building in general should be a must on your San Francisco list, it is filled with restaurants and food dedicated shops.

The weather was perfect , heavenly aromas filled the air and as you can see gorgeous, gorgeous fruits and veggies were as abundant as the canvas bags. What a fabulous day, thanks again Mom!

Our day began with a trip to San Francisco via BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) an electrical train used for public transportation, I snapped a pic for all of you that have never been to the Bay Area.
On to the market...
A rainbow of peppers, I was obsessed with these. Aren't they gorgeous?

Some heirloom tomatoes, so yummy! They gave us a sample of a heirloom tomato and basil salad that was so delish. I am going to try to recreate.

My strawberry spritzer in a 100% biodegradable cup! =) I bought this mainly because I thought it was so darn cool. Hopefully these types of faux plastics become more mainstream.
Hope your weekend is going as nicely as mine! Keep it Local =)

And the Winner is......

JEN!!! Congrats Jen, she is our resident contest winner around here an has an adorable baby named Lucas, her and Lucas have been on many green outings lately. Jen email me your address so I can ship out your prize. Can you hear the excitement in my voice when I say Jen?? Forgive my voice LOL. Also I was at a conference all day, hence the "Amber" name tag LOL.

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to write your emails about all the wonderful changes you have made. It was really fun to read them all .

I do have a honorable mention prize for Mr. Jamie Blevins! Who I heard has agreed to bring his own bags to the store. Go Jamie =)



Have a great weekend and keep it Green!

Last Call

For the challenge, I will post a video of the drawing tomorrow when I get so you have till then to email me or leave me a comment if you are in. Thanks for reading the blog and so happy to see so many of you going green =)

Trashtastic

I am so proud, mostly of my husband for actually doing things purely to make me happy but we have successfully, for few weeks now gotten our garbage down to one, count that one, numero uno, kitchen size bio bag per week. I started this trend while my husband was out of the country for a few weeks and we have successfully kept it up. I couldn't have done it without you CW!

We'll see how long we can keep this up, if feels really good to reduce my garbage waste. The more and more disposable items I replace with non disposable items the easier it gets our limit our trash. The average American produced approximately 4 lbs of trash a day, I certainly aim and hope to be well below that estimate. What discourages me about some people is that once they throw something away ( hoping they are kind enough to use a trash can ) they don't think beyond that action, as to where that trash goes and how long it will be on this earth. I aim for as much in-disposibilty and biodegradable materials in my life as possible to limit my trash.

If you haven't already hear (or use) bio bags you should definably check them out. They are made from GMO free corn and take about as long as paper to decompose. If you use plastic bags often you should defiantly check them out http://www.biobagusa.com/ for information. Drugstore.com is a great place to get them as well.
Keep it Biodegradable! =)

Almost time for the raffle...

If you post green things you do on your blog and are entering the Organically Amber Go Green Challange, just leave a comment and I will enter you, if not make sure to send me an email with a few of the thigns you did this month, as some of you already have =). I can't even imagine how much we reduced our carbon footprint by the month!

I'm so happy so many of you girls are as excited about going green as am I. It's so nice to share things we do and push each other to make more changes.


It seems as if I'm getting a reputation, for using canvas bags that is. Look at this little "Organically Amber" designergal (www.designhergals.com) my friend Suzy made of me! How cute is that, it totally made my day. Thanks again Suzy. That is totally how I look when I am out with my canvas bags =)
Keep it green

Salt treats

Last week my good friend Mandi got some kale in her fresh veggie box, I told her to make some kale chips (not sure if she did or not) but it got me in the mood for some salty vinegar kale chips. So I picked up some kale this week at the farmers market to make my own batch.

You are not going to believe me but these kale chips chips taste like potato chips, seriously! They are perfect side for my veggie sandwiches. Even my husband likes them. I coat kale leaves in a tablespoon of oil (I used flax) and a bit over a tablespoon of vinegar (I used red wine) and some sea salt to taste and bake at 350 for 10-15 ish. Click here for an official recipe.
Some chips cooling off:

While we are the subject of salt, I snapped pic of my Himalayan salt candle holder. I have few of these on hand and keep them near my computer and TV. My Mom introduced these to me, they are supposed to balance out the positive/negative ions that electronics put off, to naturally maintain air quality(info from Gorgeously Green). My Mom, among other sources, Gorgeously Green for one, swear by Himalayan salt.

By the way I picked this baby up at TJ Maxx for a mere $8, a steal. If anyone is interested you should defiantly check your local TJ Maxx or if not, health food store. I hadn't been in ages and my husband (of all people) was so excited to find this amazing deal at Tj Maxx.

Solar Power Baby!

Casey and I got a solar powered battery charger to charge our reusable batteries. So I snapped a pic of my batteries charging today as the sun was heading down.

Oh and of course pics my weekly farmers market trip hual! Plus Vegetables are totally solar powered right??..lol... This week I got a wheat bread baguette, wheat sour dough bread, cantaloupe, grapes, corn, tomatoes (mine are almost ready!), bell pepper, cucumber, cilantro, romaine, garlic, an onion and kale.

I already made some more pesto with my own basil and the garlic. And my strawberries are still out of control and delish! My mom and I have BIG farmers markets plans for next week ;)
Tell me about your green weekend, I know Jen was on it!
Keep it Solar!

California Keeping the Oceans Clean

The LA times published a great article about a proposed policy to keep California's oceans clean. California leaders are recommending a strict state policy including a smoking ban statewide on beaches, forbidding fast food restaurants from distributing plastic foam cups and it also recommends banning plastic bags.

"An estimated 19 billion plastic bags are distributed in California each year. Fewer than 5% are recycled." The article warns that the banning of plastic bags would produce more CO2 to transport paper bags,but it fails to mention that canvas bags are the best option. But we already knew that =)

Hopefully legislation like this catches on quick. If China can ban plastic bags, it is time for the US to step up to the plate.. Click here for the article.
Keep it Canvas =)

Have a Green weekend!

Hope you all have a great green weekend! Hit up the farmers markets, go shop with canvas bags in hand and skip Starbucks and have some fair trade brew instead (all great ways to get involved in our challenge! Click here for more information)
And if you have a chance sign this DoNotMail petition "Return to sender, address unknown..." Oh sorry, I told ya'll I'm an Elvis fan right ;)
Keep it green!

Must Watch Video

Ya'll know I hate plastic bags but here is some reason for you to hate (or hate them more)too. Ok lets all vow never to forget our canvas bags ever again.

Channeling Martha

When my new issue of Martha Stewart arrived this month I could not have been more excited. The whole issue was dedicated to"Local pleasures across the country". I felt as if Martha and I were on the same wavelength, well maybe I just wished we were.

Here I am buying as much local as I can, banning myself from items made in China and I get and issue like this from Martha. I just love it. As I flipped through pages of local places to visit in the US, items made in America and recipes just perfect for my farmers market treats, I felt as if my crazy label reading, banning ways had been reinforced by a reliable source.

Buying local not only makes me feel good but I know so much gas and energy is being saved by purchasing items that did not have to travel on a boat or plane to get to me. Knowing buying local is Martha approved makes it all the sweeter! Thanks Martha!
Keep it Local.

Prius Purchase

My sister just (like10 minutes ago!) bought Prius and I could not be more excited for her. I am hoping to purchase one as well. I was just so excited I had to post. LOL! I can't wait to check it out. Go Sister! Keeping it Green!

Living La Vida Local

I've been posting what I have buying locally so I also wanted to show what I have been eating Local as well.
This morning I had some cantaloupe and whole wheat toast (both from the farmers market), I know my farmers market is awesome! Also local peanut butter from my local health food store, yum!
For lunch I had a veggie sandwich. The bread, tomato, and lettuce, all from my local farmers market. The avocado, cucumber, and mustard also from local areas. The side cherry tomatoes from my farmers market as well.
Dinner: Napa Chardonnay (I'm Spoiled and what a "LOCAL" excuse), mixed greens, tomatoes, and vinaigrette (all farmers market), pesto (home grown basil, so yummy, and farmers market garlic) with rice brown noodles. Just about everything LO-CAL all day!
Keep it Local! =)